Here are my latest summaries for August and  Summer 2013.

     August 2013 continued the sequence of dry months which has 
characterised the summer this year. Its total rainfall was just 35.7mm, 
which I would reckon to be about half what we would normally receive, 
and it was less than a quarter of the total for August 2012.  The eleven 
days onwhich recordable rain fell were pretty well scattered throughout 
the month, although the most unsettled spell was from the 13th to 18th. 
with small totals falling each day. The wettest day, with a significant 
fall of 10.5mm, was the 4th however. This was the driest August since 
2005. NB Not 2006, which many recall as being the last good 'summer' we had.

     Coupled to the dryness came sunshine with  high pressure 
dominating the weather. This led to warm days overall with a mean 
maximum temperature a little over 23.2C. The warmest days came late in 
the month with a high of 27.3C on both 26th and 27th. Only one day did 
not manage to reach 20C, the wet day of the 4th.  There were a few cool 
nights, as is typical in our the valley, with a low of 5.9C on the 13th. 
The clear skies this year meant that the overall average minimum 
temperature was about 1 1/3 degrees cooler than last year, and as a 
result the mean monthly figure was only 0.2C higher than in August 2012.

     The overall impression of summer 2013 will be one of warmth, 
dryness and sunshine, and nationwide it has been placed in the 'top ten' 
for all of these. The picture has probably been enhanced by the 
coincidence of the fine weather coming in July and August, rather than 
earlier in the summer, because although June was the driest of the three 
summer months, it inherited the coolness that had dominated our weather 
in the first months of this year. The total rainfall for the three 
months was 105.5mm. and made this the driest summer since 1995. One 
interesting statistic is that Summer 2010 recorded the same total of 32 
rain days as this year, but the falls gave a 60% higher overall total.

      The mean temperature for the summer was rather over 16.4C. This 
was more than 1.3C higher than 2012, and the warmest since 2006. For me 
it will be remembered for the record warmth on 13th July with the high 
of 33C; a day which resembled being in the south of France!

                               Peter at Pottlelake